Systems and methods for reporting a cause of an event or equipment state using causal relationship models in a building management system

ABSTRACT

A computerized method for evaluating and reporting a cause of a performance change in a building management system is shown and described. The method includes receiving an indication of a fault for building equipment of the building management system and determining a root cause for the fault by traversing a causal relationship model including the building equipment and other devices of the building management system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/898,589,filed Oct. 5, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/249,191, filed Oct. 6, 2009. The present applicationalso claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/259,044,filed Nov. 6, 2009. U.S. application Ser. No. 12/898,589, U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/249,191 and U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 61/259,044 are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of buildingmanagement systems.

A building management system (BMS) is, in general, a system of devicesconfigured to control, monitor, and manage equipment in or around abuilding or building area. A BMS can include a heating, ventilation, andair conditioning (HVAC) system, a security system, a lighting system, afire alerting system, another system that is capable of managingbuilding functions or devices, or any combination thereof. BMS devicesmay be installed in any environment (e.g., an indoor area or an outdoorarea) and the environment may include any number of buildings, spaces,zones, rooms, or areas. A BMS may include METASYS building controllersor other devices sold by Johnson Controls, Inc., as well as buildingdevices and components from other sources.

A BMS may include one or more computer systems (e.g., servers, BMScontrollers, etc.) that serve as enterprise level controllers,application or data servers, head nodes, master controllers, or fieldcontrollers for the BMS. Such computer systems may communicate withmultiple downstream building systems or subsystems (e.g., an HVACsystem, a security system, etc.) according to like or disparateprotocols (e.g., LON, BACnet, etc.). The computer systems may alsoprovide one or more human-machine interfaces or client interfaces (e.g.,graphical user interfaces, reporting interfaces, text-based computerinterfaces, client-facing web services, web servers that provide pagesto web clients, etc.) for controlling, viewing, or otherwise interactingwith the BMS, its subsystems, and devices.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the invention relate to a computerized method forevaluating and reporting a cause of a performance change in a buildingmanagement system. The method includes receiving, at a processingcircuit, an indication of a fault for building equipment of the buildingmanagement system. The method further includes using the processingcircuit to determine a root cause of the fault by traversing a causalrelationship model including the building equipment and other devices ofthe building management system.

In one embodiment, using the processing circuit to determine a rootcause may include identifying a building object directly associated withthe fault, determining a causally-related building object using theidentified building object and the causal relationship model traversal,retrieving historical data for the causally-related building object, andusing the historical data to identify a cause of the fault. Traversingthe causal relationship model may include traversing multiple levels ofa causal relationship model to find the root cause of the fault.

In another embodiment, using the processing circuit to determine a rootcause may include retrieving historical data for the other devices ofthe building management system using the causal relationship model,identifying a plurality of possible abnormalities in the historicaldata, and using time data in the historical data to identify theearliest abnormality as the root cause of the fault. The processingcircuit may be configured to exclude an earliest abnormality in thehistorical data due to a determined inconsistency with the causalrelationship model.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a computer system forevaluating and reporting a cause of a performance change in a buildingmanagement system. The computer system includes a processing circuitconfigured to receive an indication of a fault associated with buildingequipment of the building management system. The processing circuit isconfigured to determine a root cause of the fault by traversing a causalrelationship model including the building equipment and other devices ofthe building management system.

The processing circuit may be configured to identify a building objectassociated with the fault, determine a causally-related building objectusing the identified building object and the causal relationship model,retrieve historical data for the causally-related building object from amemory, and use the historical data to identify a cause of the fault.The processing circuit may include a memory and the memory includes afault cause analyzer that traverses multiple levels of a causalrelationship model until the root cause for the fault is determined. Thecausal relationship model may include a plurality of software definedbuilding objects and wherein at least two of the software definedbuilding objects belong to different building subsystems. The processingcircuit may include a system analysis module and the system analysismodule includes an event analyzer, a causal relationship analyzer, aperformance index analyzer, and a fault cause analyzer. The fault causeanalyzer may coordinate the causal relationship traversal and the faultcause analyzer uses information from the event analyzer and theperformance index analyzer to select from a plurality of possible rootcauses for the fault.

The processing circuit may be configured to traverse the causalrelationship model to identify other devices, retrieve historical datafor each identified device, process the historical data to identifypossible abnormalities, use time data for the possible abnormalities todetermine the earliest identified abnormality, and evaluate causalrelationships to determine if the earliest abnormality could have beenthe root cause of the fault. The processing circuit may be configured totraverse the causal relationship model to identify additional devices ifthe earliest abnormality is determined to not be the root cause of thefault. Traversing the causal relationship model may include followingcausal relationship paths that are not coextensive with hardware,logical, or hardware and logical communications connections of thebuilding management system.

Another embodiment relates to a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions for causing,when executed, one or more machines to perform a plurality of steps. Thesteps include receiving an indication of a fault for building equipmentof the building management system. The steps further include determininga root cause of the fault by traversing a causal relationship modelincluding the building equipment and other devices of the buildingmanagement system. The steps may also include reporting a cause of aperformance change in a building management system based on thedetermined root cause of the fault.

Alternative exemplary embodiments relate to other features andcombinations of features as may be generally recited in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The disclosure will become more fully understood from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, inwhich:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a building including a BMS, accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of the BMS for the building of FIG. 1A,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 1C-D are detailed block diagrams of a portion of the BMS shown inFIG. 1B, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 2A-B are diagrams of causal relationship models, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a process for building a causal relationshipmodel of the BMS, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process for using a hierarchical model ofthe BMS, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a process for providing a graphical userinterface that allows users to view or interact with a causalrelationship model, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the query engine shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the system analysis module shown in FIGS.1C and 1D, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a process for evaluating and reporting acause of an event in a BMS, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process for determining a cause of a faultis shown

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a process for identifying a possible causeof a fault is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a process for using time data to determinea cause of a fault, according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a detailed flow diagram of a process for determining a causeof a fault using time data, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before turning to the figures, which illustrate the exemplaryembodiments in detail, it should be understood that the disclosure isnot limited to the details or methodology set forth in the descriptionor illustrated in the figures. It should also be understood that theterminology is for the purpose of description only and should not beregarded as limiting.

Conventional building management systems receive fault indications fromvarying subsystems and devices. A server or a client front-endconventionally causes the fault to be reported to a user via, e.g., agraphical user interface. Other building management systems analyze data(e.g., trends, statistics, etc.) to determine whether to derive a faultfrom the analyzed data.

The present application relates to systems and methods for determiningand reporting a root cause for a received or determined fault. A causalrelationship model including the building equipment associated with thefault is traversed to determine the root cause. This approach canadvantageously help building managers or engineers identify and addressa fault's source rather than merely identifying and addressing a fault'sdownstream effects.

Maintaining Building Objects and Causal Relationship Models for theBuilding Objects

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a computer system for aBMS (e.g., a BMS controller) that has been configured to help makedifferences in building subsystems transparent at the human-machineinterface, application, or client interface level. The computer systemis configured to provide access to different building devices andbuilding subsystems using common or unified building objects (e.g.,software objects stored in memory) to provide the transparency. In anexemplary embodiment, a software defined building object (e.g., “virtualbuilding object,” “virtual device”) groups multiple properties fromdisparate building systems and devices into a single software objectthat is stored in memory and provided by a computer system forinteraction with other systems or applications (e.g., front-endapplications, control applications, remote applications, clientapplications, local processes, etc.). Multiple software defined buildingobjects may be described as forming an abstraction layer of a BMSsoftware framework or architecture. Benefits such as allowing developersto write applications that will work regardless of a particular buildingsubsystem makeup (e.g., particular naming conventions, particularprotocols, etc.) may be provided by such software defined buildingobjects. Such software defined building objects are further described inSer. No. 12/887,390, filed Sep. 21, 2010 to Huneycutt et al. applicationSer. No. 12/887,390 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Referring now to FIG. 1A, a perspective view of a building 10 is shown,according to an exemplary embodiment. A BMS serves building 10. The BMSfor building 10 may include any number or type of devices that serve thebuilding. For example, each floor may include one or more securitydevices, video surveillance cameras, fire detectors, smoke detectors,lighting systems, HVAC systems, or other building systems or devices. Inmodern BMSs, BMS devices can exist on different networks within thebuilding (e.g., one or more wireless networks, one or more wirednetworks, etc.) and yet serve the same building space or control loop.For example, BMS devices may be connected to different communicationsnetworks or field controllers even if the devices serve the same area(e.g., floor, conference room, building zone, tenant area, etc.) orpurpose (e.g., security, ventilation, cooling, heating, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 1B, a block diagram of an exemplary BMS 11 forbuilding 10 of FIG. 1A is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment.BMS 11 is shown to include a plurality of BMS subsystems 20-26. Each BMSsubsystem 20-26 is connected to a plurality of BMS devices and makesdata points for varying connected devices available to upstream BMScontroller 12. Additionally, BMS subsystems 20-26 may encompass otherlower-level subsystems. For example, an HVAC system may be broken downfurther as “HVAC system A,” “HVAC system B,” etc. In some buildings,multiple HVAC systems or subsystems may exist in parallel and may not bea part of the same HVAC system 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, a BMS subsystem includes HVAC system 20. HVACsystem 20 is shown to include a lower-level HVAC system 42, named “HVACsystem A.” For example, HVAC system 20 may control HVAC operations for agiven building (e.g., building 10), while “HVAC system A” 42 controlsHVAC operations for a specific floor of that building. “HVAC system A”42 is connected to air handling units (AHUs) 32, 34, named “AHU A” and“AHU B” in the BMS, respectively. AHU 32 may control variable air volume(VAV) boxes 38, 40, named “VAV_(—)3” and “VAV_/4” in the BMS. Likewise,AHU 34 may control VAV boxes 36 and 110, named “VAV_(—)2” and“VAV_(—)1.” HVAC system 42 may also include chiller 30, named “ChillerA” in the BMS. Chiller 30 may provide chilled fluid to AHU 32 and/or toAHU 34.

HVAC system 42 may also receive data from AHUs 32, 34 (e.g., atemperature setpoint, a damper position, temperature sensor readings).HVAC system 42 may then provide such BMS inputs up to HVAC system 20 andon to middleware 14 and BMS controller 12. Similarly, other BMSsubsystems may receive inputs from other building devices or objects andprovide them to middleware 14 and BMS controller 12 (e.g., viamiddleware 14). For example, a window control system 22 may receiveshade control information from one or more shade controls, may receiveambient light level information from one or more light sensors, or mayreceive other BMS inputs (e.g., sensor information, setpointinformation, current state information, etc.) from downstream devices.Window control system 22 may include window controllers 107, 108, named“local window controller A” and “local window controller B” in the BMS,respectively. Window controllers 107, 108 control the operation ofsubsets of the window control system 22. For example, window controller108 may control window blind or shade operations for a given room,floor, or building in the BMS. Lighting system 24 may receive lightingrelated information from a plurality of downstream light controls, forexample, from room lighting 104. Door access system 26 may receive lockcontrol, motion, state, or other door related information from aplurality of downstream door controls. Door access system 26 is shown toinclude door access pad 106, named “Door Access Pad 3F” which may grantor deny access to a building space (e.g., floor, conference room,office, etc.) based on whether valid user credentials are scanned orentered (e.g., via a keypad, via a badge-scanning pad, etc.).

BMS subsystems 20-26 are shown as connected to BMS controller 12 viamiddleware 14 and are configured to provide BMS controller 12 with BMSinputs from the various BMS subsystems 20-26 and their varyingdownstream devices. BMS controller 12 is configured to make differencesin building subsystems transparent at the human-machine interface orclient interface level (e.g., for connected or hosted user interface(UI) clients 16, remote applications 18, etc.). BMS controller 12 isconfigured to describe or model different building devices and buildingsubsystems using common or unified building objects (e.g., softwareobjects stored in memory) to help provide the transparency. Benefitssuch as allowing developers to write applications that will workregardless of the building subsystem makeup may be provided by suchsoftware building objects.

FIGS. 1C-D are detailed block diagrams of a portion of the BMS as shownin FIG. 1B, according to an exemplary embodiment. Many differentbuilding devices connected to many different BMS subsystems are shown toaffect conference room “B1_F3_CR5.” For example, conference room 102includes or is otherwise affected by VAV box 110, window controller 108(e.g., a blind controller), a system of lights 104 named “Room Lighting12,” and door access pad 106. As is viewable in FIGS. 1C-D and also inFIG. 1B, VAV box 110, window controller 108, lights 104, and door accesspad 106 are not otherwise related. Each of the building devices shown atthe top of FIGS. 1C-D may include local control circuitry configured toprovide signals to their supervisory controllers or more generally tothe BMS subsystems 20-26. The local control circuitry of the buildingdevices shown at the top of FIGS. 1C-D may also be configured to receiveand respond to control signals, commands, setpoints, or other data fromtheir supervisory controllers. The local control circuitry of VAV box110 may include circuitry that affects an actuator in response tocontrol signals received from a field controller that is a part of HVACsystem 20. Window controller 108 may include circuitry that affectswindows or blinds in response to control signals received from a fieldcontroller that is part of window control system (WCS) 22. “RoomLighting 12” 104 may include circuitry that affects the lighting inresponse to control signals received from a field controller that ispart of lighting system 24. Access pad 106 may include circuitry thataffects door access (e.g., locking or unlocking the door) in response tocontrol signals received from a field controller that is part of dooraccess system 26.

In conventional buildings, the BMS subsystems are often managedseparately. Even in BMSs where a unified graphical user interface isprovided, a user must typically click through a hierarchy such as isshown in FIG. 1B to view data points for a lower level device or to makechanges (e.g., setpoint adjustments, etc.). Such separate management canbe particularly true if the subsystems are from different manufacturersor communicate according to different protocols. Conventional controlsoftware in such buildings is sometimes custom written to account forthe particular differences in subsystems, protocols, and the like.Custom conversions and accompanying software is time consuming andexpensive for end-users or their consultants to develop. A softwaredefined building object of the present disclosure is intended to groupotherwise ungrouped or unassociated devices so that the group may beaddressed or handled by applications together and in a consistentmanner.

In an exemplary BMS controller, a conference room building object may becreated in memory for each conference room in the building. Further,each conference room building object may include the same attribute,property, and/or method names as those shown in FIGS. 1C-D. For example,each conference room may include a variable air volume box attribute, awindow attribute, a lighting attribute, and a door access deviceattribute. Such an architecture and collection of building objects isintended to allow developers to create common code for use in buildingsregardless of the type, protocol, or configuration of the underlying BMSsubsystems. For example, a single automated control application may bedeveloped to restrict ventilation to conference rooms when theconference rooms are not in use (e.g., when the occupied attribute isequal to “true”). Assuming proper middleware and communications systems,the setup or the installation of a different BMS device or anapplication for a different BMS may not need to involve a re-write ofthe application code. Instead, for example, if a new building area isdesignated as a conference room, a new conference room building objectcan be created and set-up (e.g., a variable air volume unit mapped tothe conference room building object). Once a new conference roombuilding object is created and set-up, code written for controlling ormonitoring conference rooms can interact with the new conference room(and its actual BMS devices) without modification.

Referring still to FIGS. 1C-D, the BMS is shown to include a BMSinterface 132 in communication with middleware 14 of the BMS. Middleware14 is generally a set of services that allow interoperable communicationto, from, or between disparate BMS subsystems 20-26 of the BMS (e.g.,HVAC systems from different manufacturers, HVAC systems that communicateaccording to different protocols, security/fire systems, IT resources,door access systems, etc.). Middleware 14 may be, for example, an EnNetserver sold by Johnson Controls, Inc. While middleware 14 is shown asseparate from BMS controller 12, in various exemplary embodiments,middleware 14 and BMS controller 12 are integrated. For example,middleware 14 may be a part of BMS controller 12.

BMS interface 132 (e.g., a communications interface) can be or includewired or wireless interfaces (e.g., jacks, antennas, transmitters,receivers, transceivers, wire terminals, etc.) for conducting datacommunications with another system or network. For example, BMSinterface 132 can include an Ethernet card and port for sending andreceiving data via an Ethernet-based communications network. In anotherexample, BMS interface 132 includes a WiFi transceiver for communicatingvia a wireless communications network. BMS interface 132 may beconfigured to communicate via local area networks or wide area networks(e.g., the Internet, a building WAN, etc.). BMS interface 132 isconfigured to receive building management inputs from middleware 14 ordirectly from one or more BMS subsystems 20-26. BMS interface 132 caninclude any number of software buffers, queues, listeners, filters,translators, or other communications-supporting services.

BMS controller 12 is further shown to include a processing circuit 134including a processor 136 and memory 138. Processor 136 may be a generalpurpose or specific purpose processor, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), one or more field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), a group of processing components, or other suitable processingcomponents. Processor 136 is configured to execute computer code orinstructions stored in memory 138 or received from other computerreadable media (e.g., CDROM, network storage, a remote server, etc.).According to an exemplary embodiment, memory 138 is communicablyconnected to processor 136 via electronics circuitry. Memory 138 (e.g.,memory unit, memory device, storage device, etc.) is one or more devicesfor storing data and/or computer code for completing and/or facilitatingthe various processes described in the present disclosure. Memory 138may be RAM, hard drive storage, temporary storage, non-volatile memory,flash memory, optical memory, or any other suitable memory for storingsoftware objects and/or computer instructions. Memory 138 may includedatabase components, object code components, script components, or anyother type of information structure for supporting the variousactivities and information structures described in the presentdisclosure. Memory 138, for example, includes computer code forexecuting (e.g., by processor 136) one or more processes describedherein. When processor 136 executes instructions stored in memory 138for completing the various activities described herein, processor 136generally configures BMS controller 12 and more particularly processingcircuit 134 to complete such activities.

Memory 138 is shown to include building objects 142 and building objecttemplates 140, which can be used to construct building objects ofpredefined types. For example, building object templates 140 may containa “Conference Room” template that can be used to define conference roomobjects in building objects 142.

In FIG. 1C, software defined building object 142 named“Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5” is illustrated as existing within memory 138of BMS controller 12. To create a particular building object (forexample, a software object of an AHU), inputs from building managementresources may be mapped (e.g., linked, associated, described, grouped)to attributes of the particular building object. A simplified exemplaryresult of such mapping might be an object such as:

  Floor1AHU {  temperature_sensor: Floor1AHU.controllerB.TempS; setpoint: Floor1AHU.345server.Setpoint;  damper_position:Floor1AHU.345server.Damper; }The building object's name is “Floor1AHU” which may conform to a namingconvention indicating that it is the AHU serving the first floor of abuilding. The building object “Floor1AHU” has three values orattributes: temperature_sensor, setpoint, and damper_position that aremapped to the particular BMS resources of “Floor1AHU.controllerB.TempS,”“Floor1AHU.345server.Setpoint,” and “Floor1AHU.345server.Damper,”respectively. The mapping provides a description for BMS or computingresources (e.g., back end software applications or client applications)so that the BMS or computing resources can identify, access, display,change, or otherwise interact with the particular BMS resources mappedto “Floor1AHU” even when the resources are associated with differentservers or controllers.

For example, BMS controller 12 may group inputs from the varioussubsystems 20-26 to create a building object “Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5”including inputs from various systems controlling the environment in theroom. An exemplary software defined building object might be an objectsuch as:

   Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5 {  vav: //Middleware/HVAC_System_A/VAV_1; window: //Middleware/WCS/WindowControllerB;  lighting://Middleware/LightingSystem/RL12;  door_access://Middleware/AccessSys/DAP3F;  occupied: true;  getSheddableWattage( );}The software defined building object's name is“Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5” which may conform to a naming conventionindicating that it is a conference room in a particular location in thebuilding, e.g. Conference Room 5 is on Floor 3 of Building 1. Thebuilding object “Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5” has several values orattributes including vav, window, lighting, door_access, occupied, andgetSheddableWattage. The attributes of vav, window, lighting, anddoor_access are mapped to the particular BMS resources of“HVAC_System_A/VAV_(—)1,” “WCS/WindowControllerB,”“LightingSystem/RL12,” and “AccessSys/DAP3F,” respectively. The mappingprovides a description for BMS or computing resources (e.g., back endsoftware applications, client applications, BMS control routines, etc.)so that the BMS or other computing resources can identify, access,display, change or otherwise interact with the software defined buildingobject in a meaningful way (e.g., in a way that allows changes to bemade to the mapped devices). A software defined building object may bemapped to BMS inputs manually. For example, the mapping may be completedby a user with a graphical user interface tool that requires a user toeither type in or “drag and drop” BMS inputs to an object. Softwaredefined building objects may also or alternatively be mapped to BMSinputs by computerized systems configured to provide varying degrees ofmapping automation. For example, patent application Ser. No. 12/887,390,filed Sep. 21, 2010 and incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, describes systems and methods for creating software definedbuilding objects and mapping BMS inputs to the building objects.“Occupied” is a boolean property unique to the“Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5” building object. GetSheddableWattage( ) is amethod unique to the “Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5” building object.

As an example of how a building object may be used by the system, allconference room building objects may have the same attributes as“Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5” listed above. Once each of the conferencerooms in building 10 are mapped to a software defined conference roombuilding object, the rooms may be treated the same way in code existingin BMS controller 12, remote applications 18, or UI clients 16.Accordingly, an engineer writing software code for UI clients 16, remoteapplications 18 or BMS controller 12 can know that each conference roomwill have attributes listed above (e.g., VAV, window, lighting, dooraccess, occupied, getSheddableWattage( ). Therefore, for example, ratherthan having to know an address for a particular variable air volumecontroller in a particular HVAC system, a given conference room's VAVcontroller may be available at the conference room's vav attribute.

The creation of a software defined building object may include threesteps:

1. defining a building object template;

2. creating an instance of a building object based on the template; and

3. mapping or binding building object properties or attributes toparticular BMS devices or inputs.

As an example of the first step, a conference room template or class maybe created (e.g., by a developer, by a rapid application developmentmodule, etc.) such as the following:

  public class Conference_Room extends Device {  def vav  def window def lighting  def door_access  def occupied  def getSheddableWattage( ){ ... } }

In some embodiments, the building object template or class may be aGroovy/Java class configured to inherit a series of benefits such as theability to extend existing devices.

An instance of the class may be created and named (for example“B1_F3_CR5”). The names can be descriptive, based on an automatedroutine configured to find building objects, manually applied, orotherwise.

The mapping or binding process maps disparate BMS devices or inputs tothe instance of the building object.

Once the building objects are created and BMS devices or inputs aremapped to the building objects, software defined building objects may beused by applications (local, remote, client, etc.) with any suitableprogramming language or syntax. As an example of interaction with thesoftware defined building object used in previous examples, thefollowing exemplary piece of code is configured to load “B1_F3_CR5” asConfRoom, print the result of the method getSheddableWattage forConfRoom, and set the window parameter to “50” (which may be sent to WCS22 or “Local Window Controller B” 108 via BMS interface 132 ormiddleware 14 shown in FIGS. 1C-D to cause the blinds to be 50 percentopen) when the ConfRoom object is saved.

def ConfRoom=factory.load(“Conference_Room.B1_F3_CR5”)

printIn ConfRoom.getSheddableWattage( );

ConfRoom1.window=50

factory.save(ConfRoom)

In an exemplary embodiment, application services 148 of BMS controller12 shown in FIGS. 1C-D may be or include web services configured toallow remote applications 18 or local applications 150 to accessbuilding object templates 140, building objects 142, causal relationshipmodels 152, hierarchical projection models 154 and query engine 156directly or indirectly via a set of internet application programminginterfaces. To support such interfaces, each software defined buildingobject may include or be exposed to a toXML( ) method configured todescribe the software defined building object using XML. In anotherexemplary embodiment, application services 148 allows remoteapplications 18 on other BMS controllers to communicate with BMScontroller 12 over a network.

Conventional building systems do not include organizational models whichlink and describe building objects by causal relationships (e.g.,“ontological models”). Memory 138 is shown to include causalrelationship models 152, which store the causal relationships betweenobjects in building objects 142. For example, a “ventilates” causalrelationship may be used to relate a VAV box object to a conference roomobject.

Memory 138 is also shown to include hierarchical projection models 154.While the models of the present disclosure are not stored or representedas static hierarchical models, systems and methods of the presentdisclosure are configured to allow the creation of multiple hierarchicalviews of the causal relationship model. Each “view” may be defined as ahierarchical model (e.g., tree model, uni-directional tree, top-downtree having a head node) in memory 138 to which a causal relationshipmodel can be applied. In other words, one or more hierarchical modelsmay be created in memory 138 and one or more causal relationships can beprojected onto the one or more hierarchical models.

Memory 138 is also includes client services 146 configured to allowinteraction between internal or external clients or applications and BMScontroller 12. Client services 146, for example, may include webservices or application programming interfaces available forcommunication by UI clients 16 and remote applications 18 (e.g., anenergy monitoring application, an application allowing a user to monitorthe performance of the BMS, an automated fault detection and diagnosticssystem, etc.).

Memory 138 further includes user interface module 144. User interfacemodule 144 is configured to generate one or more user interfaces forreceiving input from a user. User interface module 144 may be configuredto provide, for example, a graphical user interface, a voice driveninterface, a text-based interface, or another interface for receivinguser input regarding the mapping of BMS inputs to building objects. Inan exemplary embodiment, user interface module 144 is an HTML-basedapplication configured to be served by, for example, client services 146or another web server of BMS controller 12 or another device. Userinterface module 144 may be configured to prompt a user (e.g., visually,graphically, audibly, etc.) for input regarding building objects 142,building object templates 140, causal relationship models 152 orhierarchical projection models 154. In an exemplary embodiment, userinterface module 144 prompts the user to create (or otherwise provides auser interface for creating) a template building object 140. Userinterface module 144 may also prompt the user to map BMS inputs to thetemplate building object. User interface module 144 may receive andhandle the user inputs to initiate the storage of received inputmappings. In another exemplary embodiment, user interface module 144 mayprompt the user to identify, define, store, modify or delete a causalrelationship in causal relationship models 152. For example, a user mayuse a GUI to create a causal relationship between defined buildingobjects in building objects 142, e.g. relating a conference room objectto a VAV box object. User interface module 144 may further be configuredto generate and serve graphical user interfaces having informationdisplays of building objects and/or causal relationships. User interfacemodule 144 may also be configured to utilize query engine 156 to queryand retrieve information about causal relationships in causalrelationship models 152 or via hierarchical projection models 154.

In FIG. 1D, causal relationship models 152 is shown to include a causalrelationship model for conference room 102 and a number of buildingobjects (e.g. building objects 30, 32, 40, etc. associated with devicesshown in FIG. 1B) that affect access to conference room 102 or theenvironment of conference room 102. The causal relationships from thesebuilding objects to conference room 102 are identified and mapped backto conference room 102. For example, VAV box 110 is shown linked toconference room 102 with a directional link described by the name or tag“ventilates.” This link represent the causal relationship between VAVbox 110 and conference room 102. More particularly, the link identifiesthe causal relationship between VAV box 110 and conference room 102 asone where VAV box 110 provides ventilation to conference room 102. VAVbox 110 is affected by HVAC System 20 and so the corresponding causalrelationship is shown as being directional from conference room 102 toVAV box 110 with “controls” describing the relationship. Similarly, roomlighting 104 lights conference room 102, window controller 108 dimsconference room 102, and access pad 106 controls access to conferenceroom 102. As described above, conference room 102 is not a buildingdevice that is associated with any one particular controller or BMSsubsystem. As a complement to the software defined building object forthe conference room, the exemplary causal relationship informationstructure shown at the bottom of FIG. 1D provides a multi-levelrelationship map that more clearly represents the complex controlenvironment of the actual conference room shown at the top of FIG. 1D.In addition to more coding and software development advantages, thecausal relationship models can provide new user interface views, morerobust searching “show me all VAV boxes that ventilate conferencerooms,” new fault detection and diagnostics tools, and other advantages.

Conventional building systems do not include organizational models whichlink and describe building objects by causal relationships (e.g.,“ontological models”). A key feature of an ontological model is theability to define relationships between dissimilar object types. Aconventional hierarchical model may have an HVAC server object and a“VAV box” that is a member of the HVAC server object due to its controlconnection. Such a hierarchical model allows objects to be handled in ahierarchical manner, but lacks the ability to interrelate objects thatdo not follow the chain of inheritance. Causal relationships orontological models, however, allow dissimilar objects to be related,thereby adding layers of description, flexibility, and robustness to thesystem. For example, a “ventilates” causal relationship may be used torelate a VAV box object to a conference room object, even though VAV boxobjects and conference room objects are dissimilar. Memory 138 is shownto include causal relationship models 152, which store the causalrelationships between objects in building objects 142.

FIGS. 2A-B illustrate two exemplary causal relationship models. In FIG.2A, causal relationships are shown between various building objects.Building object 210, named “Building 1” in the BMS, has causalrelationships with chiller 30 and floor 214, named “Floor 3.” The causalrelationship “has” is shown to link and define the relationships betweenbuilding 210, floor 214 and chiller 30. Chiller 30, in turn, has causalrelationships with AHUs 32, 34, i.e. it “chills” the air passing throughAHUs 32, 34. AHU 32, in turn, has a causal relationship, “controls,”with VAV boxes 38, 40. Similarly, AHU 34 has a causal relationship,“controls,” with VAV boxes 36, 110. Likewise, VAV boxes 38, 40 have“ventilates” causal relationships with conference room 212, named“Conference Room 4” or “CR4” in the BMS. Similarly, VAV boxes 36, 110have “ventilates” causal relationships with conference room 102, named“Conference Room 5” or “CR5” in the BMS. CR5 102 is shown to haveproperties 216, which can be created by default when a new conferenceroom object is added to the BMS, or created by the BMS or a user whenmore information about the conference room becomes available. Finally,conference rooms 102, 212 are shown to have causal relationships withfloor 214, denoting that both rooms are “on” floor 3. As is illustratedwith conference room CR5, a software defined building object can becausally related with one or more actual devices (e.g., VAV_(—)1) orwith other software defined building objects (e.g., “Floor 3”).

Causal relationship models may be stored in memory in any number ofways. In one embodiment, causal relationship models may be stored withinone or more tables. For example, a table may have columns for arelationship type (e.g., a relationship description), a first objectidentifier, and a second object identifier. With reference to FIG. 2A, arow entry in such a table may include “has” in the relationship column,“Building 1” in the first object identifier column, and “Floor 3” in thesecond object identifier column. In this way, causal relationship models152 can be easily queried by relationship type, first object identifierand/or second object identifier. In another embodiment, a differenttable can be established for every type of causal relationship in thesystem. For example, a “controls” table may be established with a“source identifier” field and a “destination identifier” field.Referring to FIG. 2A, in a row for such a table “AHU B” would populatethe “source identifier” field and “VAV_(—)2” would populate the“destination identifier” field. In other embodiment, eachsoftware-defined building object may include a number of causalrelationship properties or attributes that store the causalrelationships. For example, a building object for “CR 4” shown in FIG.2A might include a “ventilated by” property that is a delimited stringof devices that ventilate CR 4 (e.g., ventilated by: VAV_(—)3,VAV_(—)4). Any number of suitable information structures forrepresenting the causal relationship may be stored in memory.

FIG. 2B illustrates another exemplary causal relationship model for thebuilding objects in FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2B, causal relationships betweenbuilding objects are linked with causal relationships that have adirectionality that is opposite to that shown in FIG. 2A. The causalrelationship model of FIG. 2B may co-exist with the model shown in FIG.2A. In other embodiments, only one of FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B will exist fora BMS. A set-up process may prompt a user for whether a “top-down” or“bottom-up” directionality is desired. In some embodiments the causalrelationship model will be maintained and stored on a “bottom-up” basissuch as that shown in FIG. 2B. In a system where the causal relationshipmodels of FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B co-exist, FIG. 2A's causal relationship“has” that links building 210 to chiller 30 in FIG. 2A may have acorresponding causal relationship “in” that links chiller 30 to building210 in FIG. 2B.

Causal relationship models such as those shown in FIGS. 2A-B may becreated in different ways according to varying embodiments of theinvention. In some embodiments, for example, a user may be prompted tocreate, or an automated system may create, a model with immediatereferences to particular building objects. In other embodiments, thesystem may prompt or otherwise allow a user to define causalrelationship classes or templates of causal relationship models thatwill later be used and reused for particular instances of causalrelationship models and objects.

In an exemplary embodiment, a specification of a class, classrelationships, and properties can be defined generally as a template.For example, a template for an HVAC class may include default causalrelations to equipment objects, such as VAV boxes, and to locationobjects, such as a floor or building. The representation of the classmay be in the form of a directed graph (regardless of the underlyinginformation structure) and not a conventional device tree form. Defaultproperties or attributes may be established for one or more of thenodes. Instantiated objects can then be created or mapped using therelational template. The created causal relationship models may bemodified at run-time or via a tool that allows modification outside of arun-time environment. For example, a tool may be provided for adding,modifying, or removing relationships, objects, classes, properties,attributes, and the like. When edits are made, the computing system ortool may be configured to dynamically adjust the model's structure(e.g., as the model is not stored as a static tree hierarchy). Forexample, if access pad 106 is no longer used to control access toconference room 102, the causal relationships pointing to access pad 106may be deleted as well as its corresponding building object—but the restof the model remains intact and unaffected. While the causalrelationship models shown in FIGS. 2A-B primarily relate to softwaredefined objects for building devices, many different building objectrelationships may be modeled using the systems and methods of thepresent disclosure. For example, other building entities (e.g.,departments, employees, etc.) may be mapped to the BMS devices orsoftware objects thereof. Therefore, using the causal relationshipapproach building devices may and the BMS may be linked with otherenterprise systems (e.g., an HR management system having employeeobjects).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a flow chart of a process 300 for organizingand using information in a building management system (BMS) is shown,according to an exemplary embodiment. Process 300 includes identifying aplurality of building objects (e.g., including building devices,software defined building objects, or other inputs to the BMS thataffect the building environment) (step 302). Process 300 also includesidentifying the causal relationships between the identified buildingobjects (step 304). Steps 302, 304 may include testing building inputsand outputs for the causal relationships using an automated process. Theidentifying steps may also or alternatively include using an automatedprocess to analyze characteristics of BMS devices and signals to createsoftware defined building objects and their causal relationships to eachother. In yet other exemplary embodiments, the identifying steps includecausing a graphical user interface to be displayed that allows a user toinput the building objects and the causal relationships between theobjects.

Process 300 is further shown to include relating the identified objectsby the causal relationships (step 306). Relating the identified objectsby causal relationships may be completed by an automated process (e.g.,based on testing, based on signal or name analysis at a commissioningphase, etc.) or by user configuration (e.g., of tables, of graphs via agraphical user interface, etc.). In an exemplary embodiment, a graphicaluser interface may be provided for allowing a user to draw directionallinks between building objects. Once a link is drawn, a computerizedprocess may cause a dialog box to be shown on the GUI for allowing auser to describe the created causal relationship.

Process 300 is yet further shown to include describing the causalrelationships (step 308). The description may be found and stored usingany of the previously mentioned processes (e.g., automated via testing,manually input via a keyboard or other user input device, etc.). In oneset of exemplary embodiments, the user is able to select (e.g., via adrop down box, via a toolbox, etc.) from a pre-defined list of possiblecausal relationship descriptions or to insert (e.g., type) a customcausal relationship description at a graphical user interface.

Process 300 is yet further shown to include storing the causalrelationships and descriptions in a memory device of the BMS (step 310).The causal relationships may be stored using any of the above-describedinformation structures (e.g., stored in tables, stored as lists linkedto object properties, stored as a systems of linked lists, etc.).

Referring again to FIGS. 1C-D, while the causal relationship models ofthe present disclosure may not be stored or represented as statichierarchical models (e.g., a tag-based hierarchical model description),systems and methods of the present disclosure are configured to allowthe creation of multiple hierarchical views of the causal relationshipmodels. Each “view” may be defined as a hierarchical model (e.g., treemodel) in memory to which one or more causal relationship models can beapplied or projected. For example, at least two different hierarchicalmodels may be used to describe the models of FIGS. 2B-C as shown below:

   <Conference Room>   <VAV Box>    <AHU>   <VAV Box/>  <ConferenceRoom/> OR  <AHU>   <VAV Box>    <Conference Room/>   <VAV Box/>  <AHU>The first example shows a small hierarchical tree of building objectsrelated to a conference room. For example, a conference room may beventilated by a VAV box, which in turn is controlled by an AHU. In thesecond example, a similar tree is shown, but from the perspective of anAHU. The AHU may control a VAV box, which in turn ventilates aconference room. Any number or type of hierarchical models may becreated and used to describe complex causal relationship models. Inconventional systems, a building may only be described using a singlestatic hierarchical tree (e.g., top down, one head node, showing controlconnections). The present disclosure allows the user or the system toestablish many different new information structures by applying desiredhierarchical models (e.g., bottom-up, top-down, selecting a new headnode, etc.) to the stored causal relationship models. The hierarchicalmodels may be used for reporting, displaying information to a user, forcommunication to another system or device (e.g., PDA, client interface,an electronic display, etc.), or for further searching or processing bythe BMS or the computing system.

Each level of the resultant hierarchical trees may be optionallyconstrained or not constrained to a certain number of entities (this maybe set via by updating one or more variables stored in memory, providinginput to a user interface, by coding, or otherwise). In the firsthierarchical result shown above, for example, only a single primary VAVbox may be specified to be shown for each conference room, even thoughthere may be more VAV boxes associated with the conference room. In anun-constrained hierarchical result, the hierarchical list for eachconference room would include all related building objects.

As mentioned above, the BMS controller may be configured to use causalrelationship models that may be updated during run time (e.g., by one ormore control processes of the system, by user manipulation of agraphical user interface, etc.). Any modification of the causalrelationship structure, in such embodiments, may be immediatelyreflected in applications of hierarchical models. In other words, as thebuilding changes, the BMS controller (with or without the aid of a user)may be configured to update the causal relationship models which in turnwill be reflected in the results of applying a hierarchical models tothe causal relationships.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a process 400 for using a hierarchical model ofbuilding objects is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment. Process400 includes defining a hierarchical model of building objects (e.g.,such as those shown above or otherwise formatted) (step 402). Process400 also includes traversing the stored causal relationships to generatea hierarchical result according to the defined hierarchical model (step404). Alternatively, the hierarchical result may be generated byquerying the stored causal relationship. For example, a tree storingcausal relationships may be traversed to generate the hierarchicalresults, whereas a table storing causal relationships may be queried.

Step 404 may be conducted by one or more client applications configuredto have access to the causal relationships, by a process of a serverwhereby only the hierarchical results are provided to clientapplications, by a process away from the server, or by any other processor module. Process 400 is further shown to include step 406, where thehierarchical result is used to create a graphical representation of theresult for display (e.g., at a client, on a report, on a localelectronic display system, etc.). A graphical user interface including atool for allowing a user to define new hierarchical models or to revisea previously defined hierarchical model may further be provided to auser via a display system or client. In step 408 of process 400, atleast a portion of the hierarchical result is traversed to generate areport. In step 410 of process 400, the hierarchical result or a groupof results may be processed by one or more processing modules, reportingmodules, or user interface modules for further analysis of the BMS orfor any other purpose (e.g., to further format or transform theresults).

Referring now to FIG. 5, a flow diagram of a process 500 to provide agraphical user interface for allowing users to view or interact with acausal relationship model is shown, according to an exemplaryembodiment. Process 500 includes providing at least one tool (e.g., to agraphical user interface, as a text-based interface, etc.) for allowinga user to view or to change a directed graph of the causal relationshipsand building objects displayed on the graphical user interface (step502). The tool for changing the directed graph may be the same as thetool for identifying the objects and the relationships elsewhere in thesystem or process, or may be a different tool for conducting revisionsafter an initial modeling. Process 500 also includes displaying agraphical user interface that includes a tool for allowing a user todefine a new hierarchical model or to revise the hierarchical model(step 504). Process 500 further includes displaying a graphical userinterface that includes a directed graph representing the causalrelationships (step 506). Process 500 also includes providing at leastone tool for allowing a user to change the directed graph displayed onthe graphical user interface (step 508). Finally, process 500 includesupdating the causal relationships stored in memory based on the changesmade by the user to the directed graph (step 510).

Referring now to FIG. 6, query engine 156 is shown in greater detail,according to an exemplary embodiment. Query engine 156 can use thecausal relationship and hierarchical projection and methods describedabove to allow inspection (e.g., querying, searching, etc.) within thegraph through structured searches. According to an exemplary embodiment,query statement 602 may be provided to query engine 156 via userinterface module 144, client services 146, or application services 148.In this way, a module of the computer system, a client process, or auser via a graphical user interface or another tool (e.g., text-basedquery engine) may submit a structured query statement 602 to queryengine 156. In some embodiments, query engine 156 resides remotely frominterface module 144 and from services 146, 148 and communicates withthem via middleware 14 over a network. Query engine 156 is configured toreceive and parse the structured query statement 602 using statementparser 604. The parsing may seek out key words (e.g., causalrelationships, object types, object names, class names, property names,property values, etc.) in query statement 602. Key words that are foundmay be used by projection generator 606 to construct (e.g., using acomputerized process) a hierarchical model for use in conducting asearch for relevant objects or for filtering the search via one or morefiltering steps. In one exemplary embodiment, parsing of the statementresults in: (a) an identification or generation of relevant classes viaprojection generator 606; (b) an identification of object constraintsvia object constraints identifier 608; and (c) an identification ofproperty/value constraints via property/value constraints identifier610. Query engine 156 applies the query aspects identified by projectiongenerator 606, object constraints identifier 608 and property/valueconstraints identifier 610 to causal relationship models 152 in seriesto arrive at a result object set 618.

As an example of how query engine 156 operates, an example querystatement is given:

-   -   “All Conference Rooms on Floor 3 of either Building 1, 2, or 3        with an an Office Temperature of Greater Than 72 Degrees”

Such a statement may be parsed by query engine 156 to:

a) Identify classes of Conference Room, Floor, and Building from thestatement using projection generator 606. Using these identifiedkeywords/classes, projection generator 606 may generate a hierarchicalmodel that would provide a structured hierarchical tree of conferencerooms, their floors, and their buildings. Query engine 156 may apply thegenerated hierarchical tree to the one or more causal relationshipmodels 152 to return hierarchical projection results 612 of theconference rooms, floors and buildings, as well as particular propertiesand values of each object.

b) Identify the object constraints using object constraints identifier608. Then, using the object constrains identified by object constraintsidentifier 608, for example, query engine 156 would use objectconstraints filter 614 to filter the projection results 612 to onlythose conference rooms with the set of object constraints requested byquery statement 602 in their grouping. For example, only thoseconference rooms on the third floor of Buildings 1, 2, or 3 would remainin a hierarchical result set after filtering using the identified objectconstraints.

c) Identify the property and value constraints using property/valueconstraints identifier 610. Then, using the property and valueconstraints identified by property/value constraints identifier 610,query engine 156 would use property/value constraints filter 616 tofilter the hierarchical result set to only those conference rooms withbuilding objects whose temperature is “Greater Than 72 Degrees.” Afterthe object selection and the two filtering steps, the resultanthierarchical data set will be information and context rich for ease ofprocessing and reporting back to the user or for action by one or morecomputing processes.

Determining the Root Cause of Faults in a Building Management System

Referring again to FIGS. 1C-D, memory 138 is also shown to includeperformance indexing module 164. Performance indexing module 164 isconfigured to calculate, update, or otherwise maintain calculations ofperformance indexes 158 for the BMS equipment. Memory 138 furtherincludes event analysis module 162. Event analysis module 162 cananalyze, for example, event information 160 received from the BMS (e.g.,BMS subsystems, BMS equipment, etc.) via BMS interface 132. In someembodiments, event analysis module 162 may analyze the event information160 based on performance indexes 158.

Memory 138 also includes system analysis module 166. System analysismodule 166 may be configured to execute a computerized method forevaluating and reporting a cause of a performance change in a buildingmanagement system. The computerized method includes traversing a causalrelationship model (e.g., stored in causal relationship models 152)including the building equipment associated with the fault to determinea root cause of the fault.

Performance indexing module 164 may be configured to detect changes(e.g., state changes, undesirable changes, sudden changes, etc.) inperformance index values in performance indexes 158. System analysismodule 166 can analyze the cause of the change detected by performanceindexing module 164. In response to a detected change, for example,system analysis module 166 may cause the recall of event information 160associated with the equipment experiencing a performance issue.

Performance indexes 158 may include one or more performance indexes fora variety of BMS equipment (e.g., door access pad 106, chiller 30,etc.), BMS subsystems, portions of BMS subsystems, or for BMS portionspanning multiple subsystems. A performance index may be created ormaintained in performance indexes 158 for each piece of BMS equipmenthaving a performance parameter available for tracking or indexing. Insome embodiments, all of the indexes of performance indexes 158 may becreated and maintained by performance indexing module 164. In otherembodiments, the data for performance indexes 158 may be recalled orreceived and stored by a different module (e.g., a data gatheringmodule) and performance indexing module 164 may be configured tocalculate, for example, an overall performance index value for theequipment.

Event information 160 may be an archive of BMS events for the BMSequipment (e.g., as an event list, an event database, etc.). Eventinformation 160 may be created by event analysis module 162. Forexample, as event information is received from the BMS via BMS interface132, event analysis module 162 may be configured to conduct faultdetection on the received information. For events possibly relating to afault or an abnormal condition (e.g., temperature that is higher thanexpected), event analysis module 162 may then store event information inevent information 160 for later retrieval. Event information 160 may bestored with, for example, a timestamp or other identifier from which atleast a relative time may be derived.

Event information 160 may be recalled based on a temporal parameter inaddition to a relationship to the detected change in performance indexes158. For example, event information 160 may be recalled by identifyinganomalous events occurring closest to the time at which the performanceindex value in performance indexes 158 changed. System analysis module166 may be configured to conduct varying levels of actual eventanalysis. In some embodiments, for example, system analysis module 166will actually include routines or functions for conducting analysis. Inother embodiments system analysis module 166 calls or coordinatesroutines or functions of performance indexing module 164, event analysismodule 162, or other modules of the system.

Event analysis module 162 or system analysis module 166 may beconfigured to provide data to user interface module 144, client services146 and/or to application services 148 to cause the display of anindication of a change in performance indexes 158 and a representationof event information 160. For example, a GUI alert with the followingtext may be displayed on UI clients 16: “HVAC Performance Poor for Zone1—Associated Events: AHU for Zone 1 began to provide ‘Low Flow Rate’events as early as 2:34 a.m.—Recommended Action: Check for anobstruction of the air flow in or around the AHU for Zone 1.” In anexemplary embodiment the air handling unit (AHU) may have multiplequality metrics such as: hours of time running, fan speed, output flowrate, and deviation from setpoint. Each of these metrics may haveindividual performance index values and an overall performance indexvalue for the AHU may be calculated by, for example, averaging theperformance index values for each metric. In some exemplary embodimentsthe overall index of the equipment is discounted over time or because ofsome other value or state. For example, a process of the system maydiscount the performance index value (e.g., by one point an hour) foreach hour that the AHU's overall performance index value is within the“bad” range (e.g., on a 0-100 point scale, 0-33 may be considered“bad”). Accordingly, while the performance index value may drop justbelow 33 (e.g., 30) based on actual calculations, over time theperformance index value will be caused to approach zero. The system maybe able to update a display of the performance index value to indicateits downward trend (e.g., with a down arrow, by showing the number inred, etc.).

Event information 160 is retained for the metrics or subsystems of theAHU for later analysis. For example, a “fan speed too low” event (e.g.,calculated by an event analysis module or otherwise) may be detected andstored with a timestamp. Next, a “temperature above setpoint” event maybe detected and stored with a timestamp. When it is detected that theAHU's overall performance index value has changed and dropped into the“bad” state, both the performance indexes and the event information maybe used to help identify the problematic equipment (or subsystems ofequipment) and to suggest corrective actions for technicians to take toremedy the issue. For example, using the performance index values ofmany pieces of equipment in a BMS, the computer system may identifythose changed to the “bad” state. In response to this detection, thecomputer system may query for the closest related event (in time) priorto the change to the “bad” state. This event may be evaluated forwhether it is a possible cause of the state change. The evaluation mayuse, for example, causal relationship models as described below and mayinclude an analysis intended to simulate the question of: “could thisevent for another piece of equipment have caused this equipment'sperformance to drop?” If the answer is yes, the system may furtherinvestigate the cause for the event. For example, another query may berun for events occurring prior to the first identified event andassociated with equipment having an appropriate causal relationship withthe equipment associated with the first identified event. If the earlierevent could not have caused the performance to drop, the system mayquery for other early events that could have caused the performanceindex to drop prior to the first identified event.

Various exemplary embodiments of the system could work in a variety ofways. For example, in one embodiment, the system may gather the firstsix events that occurred prior to the performance index change. Oncegathered, the system could check each potential event for a causalrelationship to overall equipment performance degradation. The processmay be iterative (traversing backwards from final performance change orfault to an initial event that may have caused the change) until aprimary or root cause for the performance change is identified. Usingsuch a process, the system may be able to group or tag received eventsinto “symptoms” or “causes” categories. By primarily reporting the“causes” category of events to users, the system may advantageouslyreduce the “noise” of unimportant events or alarms and direct users ortechnicians to the root causes for system problems.

In the AHU example, when the performance index value in performanceindexes 158 changes from “good” to “bad”, the closest time-wise event inevent information 160 to the performance index value degradation may bea “temperature above setpoint” event. Event analysis module 162 mayidentify this event as a “symptom” type event and continue workingbackward in time and/or via causal relationship models 152 to find a“fan speed low” event that occurred prior to the “symptom” event.Accordingly, event analysis module 162 may determine that the fan speedevent describes the probable initial failure in the AHU and provideevent data to user interface module 144 and/or to client services 146,which presents that event to the user via a display in UI clients 16.The setpoint event is identified as a secondary symptom of the primarycause.

In an alternative embodiment, the system may use causal relationshipmodels 152 and resultant “symptom” and “causes” determinations by eventanalysis module 162 for fault suppression or highlighting. Those eventsthat are “causes” of further systematic performance degradation may behighlighted or displayed prominently on UI clients 16. Events that aredetermined to be “symptoms” may be suppressed from view or displayed assecondary events on UI clients 16.

By way of another example, system analysis module 166 may use the causalrelationship model shown in FIG. 2B to detect and diagnose a faultrelating to the temperature in conference room 102. For example,controller 12 may receive temperature data from a temperature sensor inconference room 102 via BMS interface 132 (e.g., the current temperatureis 75° F.) and store the data as event information 160. Performanceindexes 158 may include a setpoint temperature for the environment ofconference room 102 (e.g., a setpoint temperature of 70° F.) created byperformance indexing module 164 in response to data provided by a uservia UI client 16.

In some embodiments, controller 12 may receive a request from a user(e.g., via user interface module 144, client services 146, etc.) formore information about the increase in temperature for conference room102. For example, controller 12 may provide information about conferenceroom 102 from performance indexes 158, event information 160, and/orquery engine 156 to the user. System analysis module 166 may thenreceive a request from the user (e.g., via user interface module 144,client services 146, etc.) to traverse causal relationship models 152 toretrieve possible causes of the increase in temperature. In otherembodiments, system analysis module 166 automatically traverses causalrelationship models 152 and provides this information to UI clients 16and/or to remote applications 18.

System analysis module 166 may analyze temperature events in eventinformation 160 and detect that the temperature has risen from 73° F. to75° F., despite performance indexes 158 having a setpoint of 70° F. forconference room 102 (i.e., the rise in temperature is a symptom of apotential fault). System analysis module 166 may access the causalrelationship model shown in FIG. 2B within causal relationship models152 to analyze the symptom. Based on the causal relationship model,conference room 102 is ventilated by VAV box 110, which is controlled byAHU 34, which is in turn chilled by chiller 30. System analysis module166 may then analyze events relating to VAV box 110, AHU 34, and/orchiller 30. For example, event information 160 may include informationindicating that measured temperatures in VAV box 110 and AHU 34 havealso risen (i.e., are causes for the rise in temperature of conferenceroom 102). These events may also be symptoms in their own right (e.g.,the temperature in VAV box 110 is higher than its corresponding setpointin performance indexes 158).

Event information 160 may also include information indicating that theprerotation vanes of the compressor in chiller 30 have not changedposition for a period of time and is the root cause of the increase intemperature of conference room 102. Similarly, causal relationshipmodels 152 may include a causal relationship model for the components ofchiller 30 (e.g., a compressor, prerotation vanes, a condenser, etc.).In this way, system analysis module 166 can use causal relationshipmodels 152, performance indexes 158, and event information 160 totraverse information relating to the increase in temperature ofconference room 102 back to chiller 30. System analysis module 166 canthen use the traversed data to request additional event data from eventanalysis module 162 and provide it to UI clients 16 and/or to remoteapplications 18.

Referring now to FIG. 7, system analysis module 166 of FIGS. 1C and 1Dis shown in greater detail, according to an exemplary embodiment. Systemanalysis module 166 includes fault cause analyzer 708. Fault causeanalyzer 708 coordinates the functions of event analyzer 702, causalrelationship analyzer 704 and performance index analyzer 706 todetermine the root cause of a detected fault.

System analysis module 166 further includes performance index analyzer706. Performance index analyzer 706 receives performance index data fromperformance indexing module 164 or performance indexes 158 shown inFIGS. 1C and 1D. The performance index data may be performance indexvalues, measured values from the BMS, or an indication that performanceindexing module 164 has detected a change in a performance index value.In some embodiments, performance indexing module 164 provides theperformance index data to system analysis module 166 in response to arequest from performance index analyzer 706. For example, performanceindex analyzer 706 may request one or more performance index values fromperformance indexing module 164 relating to a damper within an AHU thatmay be associated with a cause for a fault. In other embodiments,performance indexing module 164 provides the performance index data tosystem analysis module 166 without a request from performance indexanalyzer 706. For example, performance indexing module 164 may providean indication to performance index analyzer 706 that a measuredtemperature value is moving away from a setpoint value. In yet otherembodiments, performance index analyzer 706 accesses performance indexes158 directly, without performance indexing module 164.

System analysis module 166 is also shown to include event analyzer 702.Event analyzer 702 receives event data from event information 160 andperforms further analysis on the event data. In some embodiments, theevent data is provided automatically to event analyzer 702 by eventinformation 160 or by event analysis module 162. For example, an eventindicating a stuck damper in an AHU may be provided automatically toevent analyzer 702 for further action. In other embodiments, eventinformation 160 may provide event data to event analyzer 702 in responseto a request from event analyzer 702. The requested events may or maynot be fault events. For example, event analyzer 702 may request eventswith timestamps prior to timestamp associated with a detected fault. Insome embodiments, event analysis module 162 shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D isincorporated into event analyzer 702. In other embodiments, eventanalysis module 162 is a separate module that performs some of thefunctionality of event analyzer 702.

System analysis module 166 is further shown to include causalrelationship analyzer 704. Causal relationship analyzer 704 may retrieveone or more causal relationship models relating to event information 160and/or to the performance index data provided by performance indexingmodule 164. Multiple relationships of the causal relationship model maybe traversed prior to making any root cause decisions. In an exemplaryembodiment, performance index data and/or event data for multiplebranches of a causal relationship model may be analyzed before a rootcause decision is made by system analysis module 166.

In one embodiment, fault cause analyzer 708 begins a process ofdetermining a cause of a detected fault in response to performanceindexing module 164 detecting an undesirable change in a performanceindex value (i.e., something which may be defined as a system fault).When performance index analyzer 706 determines that a performance indexchange corresponds to a fault, performance index analyzer 706 may thenprovide a fault indication and relevant information to fault causeanalyzer 708. In response to such indication and the relevantinformation, the fault cause analyzer 708 can begin a process fordetermining a cause of the fault. For example, change in a performanceindex that tracks power usage of a cooling system may be reported to thefault cause analyzer 708. In response to this information, the faultcause analyzer 708 traverses a causal relationship model for the coolingsystem. The causal relationship traversal may first inspect performanceindex information and event information for a local VAV box beforetraversing backwards through other devices (e.g., actuators, fieldcontrollers, temperature sensors, an economizer, a cooling tower, achiller, etc.) of the cooling system's causal relationship model. Thefault cause analyzer 708 can utilize a recursive and/or iterativeapproach to traversing the causal relationship model(s) of the system.Fault cause analyzer 708 can traverse multiple parallel branches orpaths of a causal relationship model (e.g., a causal relationship modelorganized as a directed graph). Fault cause analyzer 708 may causeperformance index or event analysis to be conducted on the multipleparallel branches or paths of the causal relationship model to select abranch or path that is most likely associated with the root cause for afault.

Fault cause analyzer 708 can be triggered to begin determining a causeof a detected fault in response to an event received by event analyzer702. For example, a received event may denote that a raw measuredtemperature value has increased above a specific value. Event analyzer702 can include a rule engine to determine whether such an eventcorresponds to a fault. Event analyzer 702 can provide an indication ofthis determination and any relevant event information to fault causeanalyzer 708. In response to receiving such indication or information,fault cause analyzer 708 can begin a process for determining a rootcause for the fault.

In one embodiment, fault cause analyzer 708 may request additionalinformation about the BMS equipment associated with the fault from eventanalyzer 702, causal relationship analyzer 704, and/or performance indexanalyzer 706. For example, system analysis module 166 may determine thata fault has occurred relating to a room temperature sensor. In responseto this determination, fault cause analyzer 708 may request recentevents related to the temperature sensor from event analyzer 702. Forexample, fault cause analyzer 708 may provide an instruction to eventanalyzer 702 to retrieve all temperature sensor events within tenminutes of the detected fault. Fault cause analyzer 708 may then requestone or more causal relationship model for the temperature sensor fromcausal relationship analyzer 704. Fault cause analyzer 708 may furtherrequest any or all performance index data relating to the temperaturesensor from performance index analyzer 706.

Fault cause analyzer 708 may use the causal relationships provided bycausal relationship analyzer 704 to generate additional requests forevent analyzer 702, causal relationship analyzer 704, and/or performanceindex analyzer 706. For example, a causal relationship model may relatethe room temperature sensor to a damper in an AHU and may relate theroom temperature sensor to a fan within the AHU. Causal relationshipanalyzer 704 may iteratively, recursively, or otherwise traverse andretrieve any number of causal relationships from causal relationshipmodels 152. When fault cause analyzer 708 receives a next level (e.g.,node, piece of building equipment, etc.) of a causal relationship model,fault cause analyzer 708 may then request additional information aboutthe next level from event analyzer 702, causal relationship analyzer704, and/or performance index analyzer 706.

In some embodiments, fault cause analyzer 708 utilizes a strictly serialor iterative approach to determining the cause of the fault (e.g.,determine the next related piece of equipment, request additionalinformation about the next piece of equipment, process the additionalinformation for root cause, request a next piece of equipment based onanother causal relationship, etc.). In other embodiments, one or moreprocesses of fault cause analyzer 708 may be processed in parallel(e.g., multiple branches or paths of a causal relationship model may beprocessed in parallel). By using the causal relationship models, faultcause analyzer 708 is able to restrict the selection of additionalinformation (e.g., event data, performance index data, etc.) to datathat is modeled to cause the fault (e.g., causes a degradation in aperformance index value, causes a fault event, etc.).

As an example of an activity that may be conducted by system analysismodule 166, performance indexing module 164 may provide an indication toperformance index analyzer 706 that a room temperature value is movingaway from its setpoint. Performance index analyzer 706 may retrieve andanalyze performance index data from performance indexing module 164relating to the changing temperature value and determine that a faulthas occurred. Performance index analyzer 706 may then provide anindication to fault cause analyzer 708 that a fault has been detected.Fault cause analyzer 708 may then provide a request to causalrelationship analyzer 704 for all causal relationships for relating tothe room temperature sensor that is the source for the faultytemperature changes. Causal relationship analyzer 704 may then retrieveone or more causal relationships from the room temperature sensor toother pieces of BMS equipment by traversing causal relationship models152. For example, the room temperature sensor may be causally related toa VAV box, an AHU, and a chiller. Causal relationship analyzer 704 mayprovide these relationships to fault cause analyzer 708, which generatesadditional requests for the related pieces of equipment. For example,fault cause analyzer 708 may request events from event analyzer 702related to a vane position sensor in the chiller that is causallyrelated to the room temperature sensor. Fault cause analyzer 708 mayrestrict the vane position sensor request to events that have occurredwithin the hours preceding the fault. Fault analyzer 708 may alsorequest performance index data from performance index analyzer 706related to the chiller (e.g., power consumptions, differences betweenmeasured values and setpoints, etc.). In this way, fault cause analyzer708 is able to restrict the event data and/or performance index data todata that may indicate the root cause of the fault (e.g., that thechiller is not functioning properly). If analysis of one possible sourcefor the fault (e.g., analysis of the chiller equipment forming oneportion of the causal relationship model), the fault cause analyzer 708can use causal relationship analyzer 704 to analyze another portion ofthe causal relationship model associated with the faulty roomtemperature sensor. In an exemplary embodiment, fault cause analyzer cananalyze a plurality of paths or branches and analysis returns from thedifferent paths can be compared to estimate the root cause for a fault.

Fault cause analyzer 708 can use both temporal information and thecausal relationships to determine the cause of a fault. For example,fault cause analyzer 708 may request event data from event analyzer 702based on the time the fault was detected. For example, fault causeanalyzer 708 may provide a request to event analyzer 702 for the mostrecent event information relative to the time of the fault (e.g., tostep backwards in time from the time of the detected change to the mostrecent event information prior to the fault). In another embodiment,fault cause analyzer 708 may provide a request to performance indexanalyzer 706 for performance index data within a time frame associatedwith the time of the detected fault. For example, if the performanceindex for a room temperature sensor changes, fault cause analyzer 708may request recent performance index data regarding the energyconsumption of a causally-related AHU.

In other embodiments, fault cause analyzer 708 uses statistical analysisto determine likely faults. For example, a statistical model mayindicate that an unresponsive damper position measured over a fixedperiod of time may have a 75% chance of being the root cause of a faultyincrease in the room temperature of a room served by the damper. Faultcause analyzer 708 may use statistical analysis to determine which of aplurality of suspect events is most likely to be the root cause for afault. In some embodiments, for example, fault cause analyzer 708 usesthe statistical analysis to generate a set of potential causes of thefault from a plurality of paths of a causal relationship model and usesthe statistical analysis to rank the set of potential causes bylikelihood of being the root cause of the fault.

Fault cause analyzer 708 may communicate with BMS interface 132 toreceive fault data. For example, a field controller may determine that afault condition exists (e.g., using analysis local to the fieldcontroller) and provide an indication of the fault to fault causeanalyzer 708. Fault cause analyzer 708 may also provide possible faultcauses to other components of the BMS via BMS interface 132.

Fault cause analyzer 708 may also provide the one or more causes of thefault to user interface module 144, client services 146, or applicationservices 148. In some embodiments, fault cause analyzer 708 may receivean indication that a potential fault exists from a user or other BMSservices via interface module 144, client services 146, or applicationservices 148. Fault cause analyzer 708 may then determine one or morepotential causes of the fault. In other embodiments, fault causeanalyzer 708 may also receive additional parameters from the user or BMSthat override the default operation of fault cause analyzer 708. Forexample, fault cause analyzer 708 may receive a parameter to limit itssearch for a cause of a fault to components of an AHU. In anotherexample, fault cause analyzer 708 may receive a parameter to traverseonly a portion of a recalled causal relationship model. In yet anotherexample, a user may manually provide an indication that a faultcondition exists to fault cause analyzer 708 via user interface module144, client services 146, or application services 148 to request adetermination of a possible cause. For example, a technician maydetermine that a damper is stuck and utilize UI client 16 to request adetermination of the possible causes from system analysis module 166.

In some embodiments, fault cause analyzer 708 may also receive resultobject set 618 from query engine 156 and add the fault causes to the setbefore the set is presented to a user. For example, a user may providequery statement 602 to user interface client 16 to request informationabout the security system of a building. Controller 12 may process thisrequest to provide information about the various pieces of securityequipment in the building, events relating to the equipment, performancedata relating to the equipment, potential or detected faults of theequipment, and/or the causes of the faults back to user interface client16.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a flow diagram of process 800 for evaluatingand reporting a cause of an event in a BMS is shown, according to anexemplary embodiment. Process 800 includes accessing data associatedwith equipment in the BMS (step 802). The data may be stored locally,recalled from disparate locations, recalled from remote locations,received from a “push”-based process, or otherwise caused to beaccessed. For example, some temperature values may be retrieved from adatabase, while others are retrieved directly from a temperature sensor.

Process 800 further includes calculating a performance index value forthe equipment using the accessed data (step 804). Performance indexingmay refer to a process (e.g., sub-process) of calculating and assigningrelative measures of performance to a piece of equipment based on datareceived over time or from multiple inputs. A current performance indexvalue of a piece of equipment may be determined via one or a pluralityof quality metrics, equations, or other expressions. The result of thecalculations may be placed along a normalized scale (e.g.,“low-medium-high”, “poor-average-good”, “0 to 100”, etc.). Thenormalization may be conducted across similar types of equipment, acrossmultiple pieces of equipment of the same type, across facilities, orcalculated relative to a maximum possible “score” for that particularpiece of equipment. In some embodiments the value of a performance indexis calculated based on an overall quality metric for the equipment(e.g., power usage v. effectiveness), on sensor output configured togauge whether the system is meeting its goals (e.g., the differencebetween temperature sensor output and temperature setpoint), aggregatesubsystem performance, a weighted function having inputs from childequipment, etc. The “child” equipment or subsystems used to gatherinformation for the performance indexing may be obtained or processedusing causal relationship models as described below.

Process 800 further includes receiving new data associated with theequipment in the BMS and calculating an updated performance index valuefor the equipment using the received new data (step 806). The new datamay be new setpoint values, sensor values, feedback from BMS controlloops, event information, timer values, or any other data pertinent tothe performance index.

Process 800 also includes detecting a change in the performance indexvalue (step 808). As previously mentioned, the performance index valuecalculations can result in other than numbers (e.g., integers, realnumbers) to describe performance. For example, the calculation of aperformance index value may include passing performance index numbers orother related parameters (e.g., inputs from sensors) through athresholding process or an expert system. The result of such processingmay be a value “state” (e.g., “low-medium-high”, “poor-average-good”,etc.).

Process 800 further includes recalling, in response to the change, eventinformation associated with the equipment and generated prior to thedetected change in the performance index value (step 810). For example,changes in a measured temperature may be stored as events with timestampinformation. The temperature change events may be “symptoms” of theunderlying fault that caused the change in the performance index value.

Process 800 yet further includes recalling a causal relationship modelassociated with the equipment (step 812). For example, the equipmentassociated with the performance index value may be a room temperaturesensor and the causal relationship model may include causalrelationships between the temperature sensor and various other pieces ofHVAC equipment (an AHU, a VAV box, a chiller, etc.).

Process 800 also includes restricting the selection of events recalledin step 810 to events modeled to cause a degradation in the performanceindex (step 814). In other words, using the causal relationship model,events for further analysis can can be restricted to those eventscausally modeled to affect a degradation in the performance index. Forexample, the causal relationship model may relate a room temperaturesensor to an AHU that provides conditioned air to the room. Eventsassociated with the AHU are therefore modeled to cause a degradation inthe a temperature-related performance index and the AHU associatedevents may be included in the restricted selection.

Process 800 further includes causing an electronic display system todisplay an indication of the change in the performance index value and arepresentation of the event information (step 816). For example, roomtemperature data determined to be moving away from its setpoint may bedisplayed with an event indicating that an AHU damper is slow torespond. The selected event information may be presented via the displayas a possible root cause for the change in performance index (i.e., aBMS fault).

Referring now to FIG. 9, process 900 for determining a cause of a faultis shown. Process 900 includes receiving an indication of a fault (step902). In one embodiment, a field device of the BMS automaticallydetermines that a fault exists and provides the indication. For example,a field controller may determine that a performance index value for ameasurement has changed and provide an indication of the fault to asupervisory controller. In another embodiment, the indication isreceived by the BMS device in response to a query to another device. Forexample, a supervisory controller may periodically poll a fieldcontroller for fault events. In yet another embodiment, a user maymanually determine that a fault exists and a user interface may providethe fault indication to the BMS device in response to input from theuser. For example, a technician may notice that a room temperature istoo high and interact with a user interface to determine the root cause.In yet another embodiment, the indication may be received from anothermemory location in a single BMS device.

Process 900 is also shown to include identifying a building objectassociated with the fault condition (step 904). For example, a fault mayindicate that a specific room temperature building object is associatedwith the faulty temperature. Process 900 further includes determiningcausally-related building objects for the building object using a causalrelationship model. For example, the room temperature sensor buildingobject may be part of a causal relationship model including otherbuilding equipment or objects (e.g., a VAV box, a chiller, a coolingtower, an actuator, an AHU, etc.). These other devices or objects affectthe temperature of the room and may be the cause of the increase in theroom's temperature.

Process 900 yet further includes retrieving historical data for thecausally-related building objects (step 906). The historical data may beevents, performance index data, or any other data relating to theoperation of the building objects. For example, an AHU fan buildingobject may be associated with fan speed change events and performanceindexes relating to the power consumption of the fan. Such data can beanalyzed to attempt to determine the root cause for the originaltemperature fault.

Process 900 also includes identifying a cause of the fault using thehistorical data (step 908). The root cause may be estimated to beassociated with the device or object in the causal relationship modelthat has the earliest serious abnormality in its history. For example,the room temperature sensor may be causally related to a VAV box, whichis controlled by an AHU, which is in turn chilled by a chiller; arelatively early abnormality relating to the chiller may indicate theroot cause of the fault and/or any later abnormalities in the causalrelationship model.

Process 900 further includes causing the display of an indication of thedetermined cause of the fault. For example, an indication of the rootcause may be displayed on an electronic display to convey the cause to auser. A user can use this information to perform additional diagnosticsor repairs for the root cause of the fault.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a process 1000 for identifying a possiblecause of a fault is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment. Process1000 is shown to include receiving an indication of a fault (step 1002).The indication may be provided by a user interface (e.g., in response tomanual input from a user) or automatically by a BMS component (e.g., afault detector of a supervisory controller or control module, adownstream device that reports a fault, etc.). Process 1000 furtherincludes identifying a building object associated with the fault (step1004). For example, a fault involving a temperature value may beassociated with a temperature sensor building object. Process 1000 isalso shown to include retrieving a causal relationship model for thebuilding object (step 1006). The causal relationship model relates thebuilding object to other building equipment or building objects that mayhave affected the device experiencing the fault. Process 1000 includestraversing the causal relationship model to identify one or more sets ofbuilding objects that may be associated with the root cause of the fault(step 1008). Process 1000 further includes retrieving event data for theother building objects (step 1010). For example, event data may beretrieved for the AHU and/or the chiller that are causally-related tothe room temperature sensor.

Process 1000 further includes analyzing the event data to identifyabnormal events (step 1012). The abnormal events may be fault eventsthemselves or other events indicative of the cause of the fault. Forexample, if the root cause of a room temperature fault is a stuck damperin an AHU, there may be one or more “stuck damper” events in the eventdata for a damper building object causally related to a temperaturesensor. Process 1000 yet further includes identifying a possible causeof the fault based on the results of the analysis (step 1014). The setof abnormal events identified in step 1012 may be further analyzed toidentify the root cause of the fault. For example, a room temperaturefault may cause the BMS to identify a chiller fault event and an AHUfault event in step 1012. Since a fault in the chiller may cause the AHUfault (this fact may be determined via traversal of the relevant causalrelationship model), the chiller may be identified in step 1014 as theroot cause of the room temperature fault.

Referring now to FIG. 11, process 1100 for using time data to determinea cause of a fault is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment.Process 1100 includes receiving an indication of a fault in a BMS systemor device (step 1102). The indication may be provided by a userinterface (e.g., in response to manual input from a user) orautomatically by the BMS. Process 1100 also includes retrievinghistorical data for the related systems or devices using a causalrelationship model (step 1104). The historical data may be events,performance index data, or any other data relating to the operation ofthe building objects that are causally-related to the faulty system ordevice. Process 1100 also includes identifying possible abnormalities inthe historical data (step 1106). The abnormalities may be fault events,events indicative of the cause of the fault, a change in a performanceindex value, or any other data indicative of the cause of the fault. Forexample, an increase in the power consumption of a chiller may indicatea cause of a fault related to a room temperature sensor. Process 1100further includes using time data to identify the earliest abnormality asa root cause of the fault (step 1108). An abnormality for one componentof the BMS may cause abnormalities for other components to develop overthe course of time. The earliest of the set of abnormalities may then beidentified as the root cause of the fault. For example, an abnormalityin a chiller may precede an abnormal chilled fluid temperature readingin an AHU, which itself precedes an abnormal temperature reading in aconference room. In this way, a fault associated with the room'stemperature can be traced back to the chiller as the root cause of theroom temperature fault. Process 1100 further includes causing thedisplay, on an electronic display, of an indication of the root cause(step 1110). A user viewing the display may utilize the displayed rootcause to perform additional diagnostics and repairs on the deviceassociated with the root cause.

Referring now to FIG. 12, process 1200 for determining a cause of afault using time data is shown. Process 1200 includes receiving anindication of a fault in a system or device. The indication may beprovided by a user interface (e.g., in response to manual input from auser) or automatically by the BMS. For example, a fault may relate to aroom temperature sensor. Process 1200 also includes using a causalrelationship model to identify other systems or devices (step 1204). Forexample, the room temperature sensor may be causally related to a VAVbox, an AHU, and a chiller. Process 1200 further includes retrievinghistorical data for each identified system or device (step 1206). Thehistorical data may be events, performance index data, or any other datarelating to the operation of the devices and systems that arecausally-related to system or device associated with the fault. Process1200 also includes processing the historical data for each identifiedsystem or device to identify possible abnormalities (step 1208). Theabnormalities may be fault events, events indicative of the cause of thefault, a change in a performance index value, or any other dataindicative of the cause of the fault. Process 1200 also includes usingtime data for the possible abnormalities to determine the earliestabnormality in the group (step 1210). For example, an abnormality in achiller may precede an abnormal temperature reading in an AHU, whichitself precedes an abnormal temperature reading in a conference room.

Process 1200 is further shown to include evaluating causal relationshipsto determine if the earliest abnormality could have been the root cause(step 1212). This evaluation may include statistical analysis beyondthat applied previously in process 1200. For example, statistics formultiple causally related building objects can be statistically comparedto determine if the earliest abnormality was a likely cause of thefault. In this way, an iterative approach may be taken to evaluate anynumber of branches of the causal relationships. If the earliestabnormality could not have been the root cause, process 1200 canidentify other causally related systems or devices. In other words,other branches of the causal relationship model may then be evaluated Ifthe causal relationships indicate that the earliest abnormality could bethe root cause, process 1200 continues on to causing the display on anelectronic display of an indication of the root cause (step 1214). Auser viewing the display can then use the root cause information toperform additional diagnostics and repairs for the device.

The construction and arrangement of the systems and methods as shown inthe various exemplary embodiments are illustrative only. Although only afew embodiments have been described in detail in this application, manymodifications are possible. For example, the position of elements may bevaried and the nature or number of discrete elements or positions may bealtered or varied. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended tobe included within the scope of the present application. The order orsequence of any process or method steps may be varied or re-sequencedaccording to alternative embodiments. Other substitutions,modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design,operating conditions and arrangement of the exemplary embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the present application.

The present application contemplates methods, systems and programproducts on any machine-readable media for accomplishing variousoperations. The embodiments of the present application may beimplemented using existing computer processors, or by a special purposecomputer processor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this oranother purpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scopeof the present application include program products comprisingmachine-readable media for carrying or having machine-executableinstructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readablemedia can be any available media that can be accessed by a generalpurpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor.By way of example, such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which canbe used to carry or store desired program code in the form ofmachine-executable instructions or data structures and which can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or othermachine with a processor. Combinations of the above are also includedwithin the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executableinstructions include, for example, instructions and data which cause ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purposeprocessing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions.Software implementations could be accomplished with standard programmingtechniques with rule based logic and other logic to accomplish thevarious connection steps, processing steps, comparison steps anddecision steps.

Although the figures may show a specific order of method steps, theorder of the steps may differ from what is depicted. Also two or moresteps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Suchvariation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and ondesigner choice. All such variations are within the scope of thedisclosure. Likewise, software implementations could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps,comparison steps and decision steps.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computerized method for evaluating andreporting a cause of a performance change in a building managementsystem, comprising: receiving, at a processing circuit, an indication ofa fault for building equipment of the building management system,wherein the indication of the fault is directly associated with anindicator building object; receiving, at the processing circuit, acausal relationship model including the indicator building object andother building objects of the building management system, wherein thecausal relationship model is an ontological model describing causalrelationships between pairs of building objects, wherein each of thecausal relationships is a directional relationship between a firstbuilding object and a second building object, wherein the causalrelationship model includes an indication of a relationship directionand an indication of a relationship type for each of the causalrelationships, wherein the indication of the relationship typeidentifies an effect of multiple possible effects that the firstbuilding object has on the second building object; and using theprocessing circuit to determine a root cause of the fault by traversingthe causal relationship model, wherein the root cause of the fault isdirectly associated with a building object causally related to theindicator building object.
 2. The computerized method of claim 1,wherein using the processing circuit to determine a root cause furthercomprises: identifying a building object directly associated with thefault; determining a causally-related building object using theidentified building object and the causal relationship model traversal;retrieving historical data for the causally-related building object; andusing the historical data to identify a cause of the fault.
 3. Thecomputerized method of claim 2, wherein the historical data comprises atleast one of: time series data, performance index information, and anevent history.
 4. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein using theprocessing circuit to determine a root cause further comprises:identifying a building object directly associated with the fault;retrieving a causal relationship model for the identified buildingobject; traversing the causal relationship model to identify acausally-related building object; retrieving event data for thecausally-related building object; analyzing the event data to identifyan abnormal event; and identifying the root cause based on the resultsof the analysis.
 5. The computerized method of claim 1, furthercomprising: traversing multiple levels of a causal relationship model tofind the root cause of the fault, wherein at least one of the multiplelevels includes a device of the building management system which isindirectly causally-related to the building equipment for which theindication of a fault is received.
 6. The computerized method of claim1, wherein using the processing circuit comprises: retrieving historicaldata for the other devices of the building management system using thecausal relationship model; identifying a plurality of possibleabnormalities in the historical data; using time data in the historicaldata to identify the earliest abnormality as the root cause of thefault.
 7. The computerized method of claim 6, further comprising:excluding an earliest abnormality in the historical data due to adetermined inconsistency with the causal relationship model.
 8. Thecomputerized method of claim 1, wherein using the processing circuit todetermine a root cause further comprises: traversing the causalrelationship model to identify the other devices of the buildingmanagement system; retrieving historical data for each identifieddevice; processing the historical data to identify possibleabnormalities; using time data for the possible abnormalities todetermine the earliest identified abnormality; and evaluating causalrelationships to determine if the earliest abnormality could have beenthe root cause of the fault.
 9. The computerized method of claim 8,wherein using the processing circuit further comprises: traversing thecausal relationship model to identify additional devices in response toa determination that the causal relationship indicates that the earliestabnormality could not have been the root cause of the fault.
 10. Thecomputerized method of claim 1, further comprising: using performanceindexes, the causal relationship model, and event data to determinewhich of a plurality of historical building management system events isassociated with the root cause for the fault.
 11. A computer system forevaluating and reporting a cause of a performance change in a buildingmanagement system, comprising: a processing circuit configured toreceive an indication of a fault associated with building equipment ofthe building management system, wherein the indication of the fault isdirectly associated with an indicator building object; wherein theprocessing circuit is configured to determine a root cause of the faultby traversing a causal relationship model including the indicatorbuilding object and other building objects of the building managementsystem, wherein the causal relationship model is an ontological modeldescribing casual relationships between pairs of building objects,wherein each of the causal relationships is a directional relationshipbetween a first building object and a second building object, whereinthe causal relationship model includes an indication of a relationshipdirection and an indication of a relationship type for each of thecausal relationships, wherein the indication of the relationship typeidentifies an effect of multiple possible effects that the firstbuilding object has on the second building object, and wherein the rootcause of the fault is directly associated with a building objectcausally related to the indicator building object.
 12. The computersystem of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configuredto: identify a building object associated with the fault; determine acausally-related building object using the identified building objectand the causal relationship model; retrieve historical data for thecausally-related building object from a memory; and use the historicaldata to identify a cause of the fault.
 13. The computer system of claim11, wherein the processing circuit comprises a memory and the memorycomprises a fault cause analyzer that traverses multiple levels of acausal relationship model until the root cause for the fault isdetermined, wherein at least one of the multiple levels includes adevice of the building management system which is indirectlycausally-related to the building equipment for which the indication of afault is received.
 14. The computer system of claim 11, wherein theprocessing circuit is further configured to: identify a building objectassociated with the fault; retrieve a causal relationship model for theidentified building object; traverse the causal relationship model toidentify a causally-related building object; retrieve event data for thecausally-related building object; analyze the event data to identify anabnormal event; and identify the root cause based on the results of theanalysis.
 15. The computerized method of claim 11, wherein the causalrelationship model comprises a plurality of software defined buildingobjects and wherein at least two of the software defined buildingobjects belong to different building subsystems.
 16. The computer systemof claim 11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:retrieve historical data for devices related to the building equipmentusing the causal relationship model; identify possible abnormalities inthe historical data; and use time data in the historical data toidentify the earliest abnormality as the root cause of the fault. 17.The computer system of claim 11, wherein the processing circuit furthercomprises a system analysis module and the system analysis modulecomprises an event analyzer, a causal relationship analyzer, aperformance index analyzer, and a fault cause analyzer, wherein thefault cause analyzer coordinates the causal relationship traversal, andwherein the fault cause analyzer uses information from the eventanalyzer and the performance index analyzer to select from a pluralityof possible root causes for the fault.
 18. The computer system of claim11, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: traversethe causal relationship model to identify other devices; retrievehistorical data for each identified device; process the historical datato identify possible abnormalities; use time data for the possibleabnormalities to determine the earliest identified abnormality; andevaluate causal relationships to determine if the earliest abnormalitycould have been the root cause of the fault; wherein the processingcircuit is configured to traverse the causal relationship model toidentify additional devices if the earliest abnormality is determined tonot be the root cause of the fault.
 19. The computer system of claim 11,wherein traversing the causal relationship model comprises followingcausal relationship paths that are not coextensive with hardware,logical, or hardware and logical communications connections of thebuilding management system.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having stored thereon machine-readable instructions forcausing, when executed, one or more machines to perform the following:receiving an indication of a fault for building equipment of thebuilding management system, wherein the indication of the fault isdirectly associated with an indicator building object; determining aroot cause of the fault by traversing a causal relationship modelincluding the indicator building object and other building objects ofthe building management system, wherein the causal relationship model isan ontological model describing causal relationships between pairs ofbuilding objects, wherein each of the causal relationships is adirectional relationship between a first building object and a secondbuilding object, wherein the causal relationship model includes anindication of a relationship direction and an indication of arelationship type for each of the causal relationships, wherein theindication of the relationship type identifies an effect of multiplepossible effects that the first building object has on the secondbuilding object, and wherein the root cause of the fault is directlyassociated with a building object causally related to the indicatorbuilding object; and reporting a cause of a performance change in abuilding management system based on the determined root cause of thefault.